Has any one run a Suicide Squad/Thunderbolts game? I've been percolating this one the last few days and it seems like it could be a fun play.

My concern is that many new players think in term of kill power and loot and would skip over any kind of redemption story. So it would be just a bunch of amoral supers running around fighting and killing.... your basic dungeon crawl.

Sidious wrote:My concern is that many new players think in term of kill power and loot and would skip over any kind of redemption story. So it would be just a bunch of amoral supers running around fighting and killing.... your basic dungeon crawl.

Oh there's no chance that they will do anything but that.... If you are doing the Thunderbolts thing I would suggest the early Thunderbolts ting in which they are pretending to be heroes, or may even BE heroes. That's something you haven't seen recently & a fun twist on the concept.... Instead of being villains pretending to be heroes, they could be villains who legitimately want to go legit, but are finding that once you've been inside no one wants to give you a second chance.... So they change costumes, change there appearance & try to become a real superhero team.

If however you plan on doing the prison era, my suggestion would be this: BE THE WALL.

“Anti-Intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge’.”-Isaac Asimov

I prepped but never ran one once. I used the Luke Cage-Led version of the thunderbolts for inspiration. Trying to reform criminals by throwing them together on a team with a hero leader and trying to get them to do some good.

Here was my approach to mitigate any looting/murder/wanton supervillany

1. NEW CODENAMES/Costumes - One of the reasons that the original thunderbolts went good was because they got a fresh start and really loved how they were treated when it was assumed they were always super heroes. In an attempt to re-create that environment the Raft started the reform program.2. Nominate Supervillains with HERO POTENTIAL - If you are trying to reform villains for a thunderbolts type team, pick the vilains of circumstance, not the trickster gods/demons/serial killers. I had a list of "potential candidates" that the raft warden (US Agent at the time) had assembled.3. Nanites in the bloodstream that electrocute them if they go off mission.

These were the ingredients I used to set up my game. Best wishes if you are still thinking of doing this game!

I had the idea of letting the players pick villains from the Rogue's Gallery that they've fought in the past and having them thrown together on a one of Suicide Squad style mission. I never got around to it though, I think it'd be really fun to build up to, getting a nice big roster of villains that the players know and then giving them the chance to use them.

I was always worried that they'd just go full evil, so I guess it depends on how much you trust your players to actually roleplay!

Sounds like a wicked idea though. I know that I'd love to play something similar.

I would say talk to your players. Make sure that they want a game about redemption stories and not just a hack 'n slash dungeon crawl. Most gamers are pretty clever and creative. If they want a redemption story and are prepared for it, it will happen with minimal effort on your part regardless of their experience level. If they don't, it doesn't matter how many McGuffins you throw at them to try and control them, they will figure out a way to hack 'n slash dungeon crawl, or the game will become about the fight against your methods rather than redemption. Or they will just resent you "spoiling their fun" and exit the game (either figuratively or literally).

So, my advice is communication, communication, communication.

It also works if the game starts off well and then starts to go off the rails. Pull some or all of the players aside and talk to them about where you see the game heading and why, then ask for their help getting the story headed back the way you want to go. If they won't or can't get on board with you, then either the goal needs to change or you need to part ways. After all the ultimate goal is fun for everyone and if that isn't going to happen, what's the point?

And to put this into perspective from my own background, I have not done anything similar in a heroes game, but I have played a couple of rifts games and several white-wolf games where this method was used quite successfully. Now, at least a few of those games lost players and/or folded but those games that continued on were stronger for it. I have also played in several games where the GM tried to force his world view down our throats and while I continued to attend for more sessions than I care to admit, it stopped being fun long before I stopped attending.

I will now get down off my soap box, I think someone might need it for some laundry.